Week four has come and gone for South Dakotaís 88th Legislative Session, and with it the Sentinel bill made it out of the House. Now the Senate will consider it. The bill would allow trained school staff to carry a firearm if the school district so chooses. The Sentinel would have more than 40 hours of handgun training, overseen by the local law enforcement, before he or she is allowed to carry a weapon at school.

This program is only for those school districts that choose to participate. Most of the schools in our area already have a Peace Officer present in the school, and I doubt that most of our districts would be inclined to change that. Some districts across the state, especially those that are far from law enforcement, are very interested in exploring the opportunity that this bill provides. I voted in support of this bill.

The Health and Human Services committee heard testimony on a bill to allow chronic pain sufferers to use their medical problems as a defense if they are arrested for using marijuana. Testimony will continue on Tuesday before this is voted on. At this point I am not in favor of this bill because I see it as a back door attempt to legalize marijuana in our state. I can sympathize with those who are suffering with chronic pain, but I feel a judge is already going to look at a personís circumstances if and when their case is heard. I don't think that we need an additional law for this to take place.

The HHS committee also heard a bill that was for increased privacy of electronic medical records. It sounded like a good bill to me when I first heard about it, but as we discussed it and heard the testimony for and against it, it was clear that this bill would really hamper a physicianís ability to obtain records from another doctor or health center. HIPAA regulations are enforced whether your records are in your own doctors electronic system or if they are transferred to another system. Also, patients already have the right to "opt out" of the Medical Record Exchange if they so desire. I am all for privacy, but this bill does not appear to be a feasible way to increase it. I voted against it.
The most exciting thing that happened on the House floor this week was the debate and passage of Senate Bill 70. This is the bill that overhauls the criminal justice system. Implementation of this bill is projected to save approximately $120 million during the next 10 years. It will do so by preventing the state from having to build both two new prisons.

Instead it will utilize drug courts, 24/7 programs and rehabilitation for many of these offenders. A total of 80 percent of those incarcerated in our prison system are there for nonviolent crimes. This bill will allow for appropriate punishment, as well as treatment for many of these nonviolent offenders, while saving the South Dakota taxpayer a lot of money. Several states are already doing these things and the results are superior and less expensive when compared to how we are handling these problems.

Thank you for allowing me to represent you, the people of District 25. If you are in Pierre, give me a shout. If you need to contact me, my mmail is rep.ecklund@state.sd.us.